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Barrow County Schools outlines multi‑layered safety plan and timeline to implement HB 268
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Thompson and district safety staff reviewed existing security layers, new tools and timelines for implementing HB 268 (Ricky and Alyssa's Law) including panic alerts, mapping software, an anonymous tip app, student‑record transfer deadlines and training requirements.
Barrow County Schools officials on July 29 laid out a layered set of safety measures and a timeline to implement HB 268, the omnibus school‑safety law signed April 28, 2025. Superintendent Dr. Thompson and safety staff described upgrades already in place and requirements the district must meet in the coming year.
The presentation said the district will keep school resource officers in every school and continue day‑to‑day weapons detection at middle and high schools, while adding systemwide posture and technology. "Safety is always going to be an evolving process," Dr. Thompson said. "We need a consistent web of layers and that's what we're looking to add as we go forward."
District staff described existing and planned measures: security vestibules and upgraded door hardware districtwide; upgraded and expanding camera systems; upgraded school‑bus cameras; audio systems with emergency buttons; a systemwide school dog safety app; Syntegix mapping and blueprint software; and a mobile panic alert requirement already in place in Barrow. The district said Syntegix mapping and campus blueprints will take about five or six months to complete across campuses.
Records transfer and timelines were highlighted as an immediate change under HB 268. Jenny Persinger, describing new regulatory timelines, said parents can now request an electronic copy of a student record and the district must deliver it by 5 p.m. on the third business day following the request. Districts must also provide critical student records — academic transcripts, attendance, discipline records, any guilty finding of a felony and psychological evaluations — electronically to a receiving district within three business days of a request, Persinger said. If records remain missing after 10 days, the law allows districts to move students to remote learning or hold a case‑management meeting to determine interim services.
The law requires a 24/7 tip line and an integrated mapping tool; district staff said Barrow already has an anonymous reporting form and is onboarding the StopIt app, which they expect to launch in September 2025. Jennifer Houston summarized recent and prior safety grants and how district and community funds were used for access control, AEDs, cameras, panic alert systems, weapons detectors, classroom phones and temporary classroom pods. Houston said project‑serve federal funds covered certain short‑term pod leases and related costs but do not cover grading or long‑term construction costs for pods.
Officials said the bill phases in some requirements: memorandum‑of‑understanding updates with off‑site instructional providers were due Oct. 1, 2025; mapping and panic‑alert full implementation have deadlines of July 1, 2026; statewide school‑safety plan changes are effective Jan. 1, 2027, pending guidance from GEMA and other agencies; and required suicide‑awareness and violence‑prevention trainings will be rolled out for the 2026–27 school year. Dr. Thompson said the law also provides funding for at least one student‑advocacy position funded by the state in districts the district's size, with job descriptions and appropriation timing to be finalized by the Georgia Department of Education.
Board members asked about enforcement and penalties for noncompliance; district staff said the bill as passed does not include specific automatic sanctions and that implementation and compliance monitoring will be a subject of ongoing legislative and local discussion. "There's a lot of great things in this bill, but they'll only work if all of you out there implement them," a district attorney who advised the district said in a related conference summary the superintendent referenced.
Officials closed by stressing partnerships: county law enforcement, fire agencies, Northeast Georgia Health System, mental‑health partners and local legislators provided input during drafting and will be partners in implementation.
The district did not propose any new board action at the meeting beyond continuing planned purchases and policy/regulation updates and scheduling stakeholder meetings with law‑enforcement partners.
